Paddles

I’m not sure what you mean with common whale, as far as I’m aware there is no species called that, orcas do predate on a large number of baleen whales including grey whales, minke whales and even in a few recorded cases blue whales.
But no, I do not think you would be running into much risk, there are only one or two recorded attacks of orcas on humans, one of them WAS a case of mistaken identity, but concerned a swimmer in murky water
(see: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002445380_orca19m.html)
If you are thinking of how Great Whites are thought to mistake surfers for seals, I think there is only a very minor risk, for one thing, orcas have other means to examine potential prey items, they can use their echolocation to examine things and the echo from a person in a kayak would be very different to that coming off a whale.
I would however advice to keep a distance from them (and all large cetaceans for that matter!) while in a kayak nevertheless, especially if they are in the act of hunting, they may not be paying attention to you and may knock you over or actually rush the kayak if they get overexcited in the ‘heat’ of the hunt. I do not however think you have to worry about being deliberately attacked!

I have stayed at many KOAs in Florida and a few in Georgia and Tennessee. The ones not in Florida were excellent, for value, service, and attitude. Most of the ones in Florida so far seem to bite big time. I had one in Lake City that was "on a lake" (the lake was mostly dried up and had 8 foot weeds growing everywhere, couldn’t see the water), one in St Augustine acted like a Russian boot camp and would only rent the paddle boats between 1 PM and 5 PM, if they felt like unlocking them: On our trip, they said they weren’t for rent because they had a tour bus comming in. What? One in Orlando (Lake Wippoorwill) advertized one-room cabins, but they aren’t cabins, "they are hard-shell tents", and one KOA in Mims, FL says wood fires are not allowed, not even in the BBQ pits because it is against State Law, when the real reason is so they can charge a $100 deposit plus a daily rental fee for a "portable fireplace". Other KOAs deliver firewood. Has anyone else experienced KOA problems?

I’m not sure where Lake Wippoorwill KOA is and I ‘m from Orlando. If that’s the one on US 192 next to Sams Club, I toured it for a review and found it unacceptible, mainly for lack of shade. We stayed in one of those wooden tents in Seffner, FL. My wife couldn’t hold it through the night and had to use the trash can for a potty.

The problems you mention is one of the reasons I try to stay anywhere else than KOA. We traveled to Alaska and back, from Brooksville, Florida, last year and stayed in a few KOA’s, most we will never stay in again. Ocala KOA was $50+ several years ago, for what? being with-in 90 miles of disney?

We found one in Souix City, SD that wasn’t open yet they let us stay the night, very nice people. Farther up the road, in Wyoming, we couldn’t get decent electric and left. On our way back one in Great Falls, Montana was $30 a night higher than any other campground around. Somewhere near Bismark, ND we stayed in one that was barely large enough for our 35′ motorhome, no place for our towed.

We have seen those nickle & dime you to death campgrounds and they aren’t just limited to KOA. You must really watch yourself out there.

We are in the planning stages of a return trip to Alaska for next year and you can bet there won’t be any KOA’s in our trip. We plan on a campground every five days on the way up. WalMart and Flying "J" fuel stops will be our campgrounds for this trip.

Good luck and happy camping.

Unless you are trying to keep in with the looks of a timbre boat I would suggest going and buying a paddle because they are not very expensive, decent timbre to make a paddle out of does not come cheap. Fiberglass also could be used but it is not easy to work with.

This website shows you how to carve a wooden paddle
http://www.primitiveways.com/paddle.html

This is a different method on how to make a wooden paddle
http://moosehead.wcha.org/make.html

I’m not too sure what you’re talking about but i have two suggestions. 1: they are paddles that you put on your hands. they’re used to help propel yourself harder than just using your hands. they push more water away from you (or towards your feet) when swimming free style (or front crawl) a lot of people use them if they have maybe a leg inury and can’t kick or are trying to strengthen their arms. 2: or they could be kick boards, which i think they aren’t, but you use them to strengthen your kicks and legs. and you particularlly don’t use your arms when on one. hope that’s right!

finger paddles go on your fingers and they make you connect with the stoke more or they can fall off if your elbow drops (like mine) and hand paddles are on your hands and make you arms sore( well mine do)

It’s a great paddle in really good condition, but the handle is really bad. I have it covered in rubber electrical tape, but it won’t really work for me, and I don’t want to buy a new paddle. What should I do?

try covering it in sandpaper, or skateboard grip tape

when we go on canoe trips my friend and i fight over who sits in the front or back. i say the lighter guy should be at the back (stern) in the canoe.to me paddling seems more natural this way.

heavy in the back unless you are going against a heavy wind and then the big dude goes in front.

Anyone aware of a sit-in, tandem, paddle kayak?

There are lots of tandem sea kayaks on the market. Here are just a few:

Prijon – Capri II
Seda – Tango
Necky – Amaruk
Current Designs – Unity
Wilderness Systems – Northstar
Wilderness Systems – Pamlico 135T
Valley – Aleut II
Eddyline – Whisper CL
Nigel Dennis – Triton II
Northwest Kayaks – Seascape II and III

The list goes on and on….

she also says that she knows where the pope shlt in the woods? I asked for extra poptarts and teddy grahams for the super bowl party and she looked at me like that time when there was trouble between my inflatable dolls at Denny’s. That was a bad day.

means you’re not getting the party.

Please let me know what website/book/wherever you found it out!! thankss so much(:

The screw propeller.